Migrant Labourers Poem by Asit Kumar Sanyal

In Maharashtra
Sugarcane harvesting lasts
between October and March
Migrant labourers travel there
in hopes of finding work
Beed district is one of their destinations
migrant worker families
desperate to obtain employment
earn enough to cover expenses
for the entire year.

Cane cutting contractors
do not wish to hire women
who menstruate and pregnant
periods are looked upon as hindrances
women of 25 and more
compelled to undergo hysterectomies.

Workers hired as husband-wife duos
they get production targets
and face costly penalties
if goals not achieved
to avoid the risk
of losing their livelihoods
women agree to remove their uterus.

These field workers face
extent of the misery
they are sterile
they are sexually abused
by their men
and sugar contractors
emboldened with knowledge
this won't result in unwanted pregnancies
as they live in tents
on the sugar plantations
they lack access
to basic sanitation facilities
and become easy targets for rape.